Another failed Shangri-La
by Maryland Rose
Summary: What was the real story of the place called "Galt's Gulch" It wasn't pretty...


"Who was John Galt?

"For starters his name was not Galt. He came up with that name when he had someone wr1te that fictionalized account of his experiment. The fictionalized account in which he won, of course. If he could not win in real life, he would win in fiction...Poor John, he could not bear being wrong. He kept repeating, 'my premises are right, and I developed it logically. I know I made no mistake. I probably was betrayed..."

"It is always somebody else's fault for people like that."

" Yes. Poor John, he had such faith in logic. But have you noticed that logic does not come naturally to people? We can drive with no problem. We coordinate eyes, hands, and feet. And we still can listen and talk, and let our imagination wonder. We take to it like fish in the water. But logic? Try doing any logic without pen and paper to trace the flow of thought and make sure we did not skip a step. And then logic can carry you so far. If you lack a piece of information, logic will not let you have it. Same as rearranging your furniture will not let you have an extra chair. If you want one, you have to stop rearraingin and go to the store. But John would not go to the store, because he was afraid that the new fact he uncovered would destroy the wonderful mental construction in his head... Poor John.."

"His name was John?"

"He wanted to be known by it. I could have dug out his original name, but what was the point? I got what I wanted out of him."

"So tell me your story?

"I am a plumber. A good one. Did you notice that in the tale he told he did not mention plumbers living in" Galt's Gulch"? Nor repairmen, nor electricians, nor someone to clean the toilets. Only geniuses. Movers and shakers. Those that the world would miss most. No plumbers took him up on it. Plumbers are not stupid. They move away, and other plumbers steal their customers."

"No tradesmen? No one to do that kind of work? It was really set up that way? I thought he just did not mention them."

"Nope, he did not bring any in. He really thought all he needed was the creators."

"So..."

"So these geniuses, those titans of industry ended up with having to do the scut work themselves, and it would not take long for them to realize that they were so creative because they did not get to do any of the scut work. All those things beneath their notice that those who were not creative enough had to do and be grateful they had a job at all. Same as those men in the campfire who spoke despectively of "wimmin's work" while warming themselves with wood the women had collected, and quenching their thirst with."

"So Galt came to you?"

"He came in very secretive, all kinds of precautions, which put me on guard. We got quite an amount of crime. Drugs, smuggling, you name it. I wanted to be sure that I was not dealing with criminals, because you end up getting killed that way."

"But he convinced you."

"Yeah, the money was good, and I figured out that if I was the only plumber there, I could really charge them." He smiled "You know that it is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money"

"So, you became the plumber"

"And other services. You should see how shocked they were when they found out that neither coffee nor bananas grow in these parts. So I had to bring in coffee. But that was only the beginning. When they came in, they had some crazy idea that farming was something that could be done part-time. I grant you, they had a stash because they remembered that things do not grow overnight. But when harvest time came, they were shocked that it would not last more than a month. That they would have to resort to foraging. And when the snows came, there would be no more foraging..."

"And you offered to get them food, of course."

"Yes, and I charged them for it. When they complained I told them that they were free to shop elsewhere. They grumbled but they paid. In gold."

"And, don't tell me, the gold started to run out"

"Yes, the gold was supposed to be circulating among them, and not leave the community. But it left, and they realized that they had to renegotiate the payment scheme."

"I take it that it did not go pleasantly."

"No. But they had no choice. It was either pay me, or live on potatoes and beans, if at all. We had some philosophical arguments, that somehow centered on me feeding them for free. I was amused by it, and even got to have fun with "Galt" himself talking about their sacrosant Free Market"

"What did you tell him?"

"I asked him if it was true that the market was not an ideal entity but the aggregate of all the decisions that people make when they buy and sell."

"And?"

"He said that those were rational decisions"

"Yes, he said that."

"But then I reminded him how he had railed about people not using reason in their lives, how they chose the wrong ideas, the wrong politics, how they were prey to superstitions. So, it was those people who were irrational most of the time that made the market. Was he going to make me believe that all those irrational people became miracles of sense and wisdom when they went shopping?"

"Ooops, big stumbling block there. What did he say?"

"He ignored it, as he ignored anything that contradicted his opinions... Yeah, that was what most of the people in" Galt's Gulch" were, those who could not bear to be contradicted. That's what they resented the Government so much, not because what it demanded was wrong – though that was sometimes the case – but because it could not be screamed at, browbeaten, or threatened into silence as were the people who worked for them."

"So, they had no gold. How did they pay?"

"I gave them two choices. One to make handicrafts to sell to tourists as genuine native articles. And another to sell me their ideas so that I could get the patents and sell them."

"I bet they screamed bloody murder... They did not want others to use their ideas, and now they had to sell them for peanuts.."

"It was either that, or starve. Or go back to the wicked world they abandoned. Some wanted to leave, but "Galt" was so worried that they might give away their hideout that... that something happened to them. The way "Galt" explained, they had initiated force when trying to leave, so he had to defend himself... The others all corroborated that it was self-defense, and that those who tried to leave were traitors, anyway... They all joined in the condemnation."

"So they gave you what you wanted?"

"'Galt' said that even if you gave the ideas, those outside did not have the wits of what to do with them, so why not give them to me? So they did."

"And you have the patents now?"

"I sold some of them. Not many. One big surprise was that the ideas were not that good, nor all that new... Those people might have been wonders once, but their best years were behind them. I wonder if all that talk about the evil government and collectivism, and regimentation was their excuse for having a dry spell, and no longer being on top of their game. Blaming others is easier than admitting that the well has gone dry. No, if you want bright new ideas, go to the young, hungry people who are trying to break in. Nurture them when they are young. Let them try to fly on their own, and wait. "Galt" collected the past, and the future was passing him by."

"How about the handicrafts?'

"They got rather good at it. They were pretty, and people bought them. But I was careful to provide them with a romantic story about a lost American tribe. "Galt" was furious about that. The stories we told were against his philosophy. We should tell them the truth as "Galt" had found. I listened to him, nodded, and kept doing it. I mean, I was not selling essentials. I was selling overpriced knicknacks that basically brought pleasure to the buyers. So what is so wrong with enhancing that pleasure with an interesting story? People who buy these things are not looking for deep truths, or for morals, they just want to hear an interesting story, that they can repeat to others, who will again experience pleasure. That was all. One would think that someone as supposedly intelligent as "Galt" was would see. But no, he was complaining that it was evil."

"I can see it. He was brilliant in his narrow specialty, but basically clueless as to how people behave."

"He had to give in, because it was that or starve. Until the next harvest, he said, and this time they would be self-suficient."

"Let me guess, that time never came."

"No, and they should not have expected it. I mean, grow your own food, and then when you are done think deep thoughts and write them down. Like Jefferson."

"Except that Jefferson had slaves to do the work, so that he could have deep thought and invent things while the work was being done."

"Yeah, Abraham Lincoln knew that for the bilge it was. There is a reason why he got away from the farm as soon as he could and educated himself as a lawyer."

"How did the people at the gulch take to being cheap labor for you."

"Not well, they complained rather sourly when I met them. I told them that my prices were what they were and that they were free to find other employment, and shop somewhere else. So they grumbled that it was not that easy for them."

"So they found out how their workers felt at their factories."

"Except that I did not put them on an assembly line, doing nothing but tighten the same screws over and over and over. And they were free to leave... provided that "Galt" did not shoot them for being traitors."

"And then it all ended."

"It was not pretty. "Galt" had this one big scheme to get goods and gold. The kind of big scheme you get when you have read too much Emilio Salgari, or Rafael Sabatini and have this romantic idea about pirates."

"You do not like Salgari?"

"Oh, I like it enough. But after a certain age, to believe it depicts reality is about as bad as believing in fairies.. Alas, "Galt" and the guy who chose to call himself "Ragnar Dannekjold" believed in it, and thus came up with that crackpot scheme to go into piracy and finance themselves that way. They came with a rationale for attacking relief ships... somehow it was going to undeserving people."

" I remember that. Yes, it was a crackpot idea. They completely fogot that those relief ships were sent by the Government, and that the Government had learned how to run past a blockade and how to brave submarine warfare during the war. A lone pirate was hardly a challenge for them."

"And so the ship was sunk by an airplane attack and the survivors taken into custody. "Ragnar" at least got to live the fantasy. They applied the law of the sea to him and hanged him by the yardarm."

"Just like in the books..."

"'Galt' took it badly. I wondered what he would do, and was worried that it might get violent. Yes, he kept on about not initiating aggresion, but I knew that he could goad anyone into attacking him. I worried that he might decide that I was initiating aggresion agasint him, so I pulled the plug on him. Used as an excuse the fact that there were a few cases of plague... you know, the old standby never went away. I passed the word along that there might be an outbreak in an isolated compound and they took action. Luckily "Galt" did not go the Jim Jones route. They were all evacuated, and yes, there were already a few cases a plague.."

"So came the end of the great capitalist Shangri-La."

"Yes, because unlike Shangri -La they had no magic that could bypass basic problems that can only be solved in a larger community. And they did get sick and old... so it came to an undignified end."

"And those men who were so essential to keep the economy running?"

"They got the shock of their lives to see how easily they had been replaced. A lot of younger people that they had kept subservient and unable to soar, came into their own, and took over. Same as with trees. You see a big tree taken down, and you can mourn the bald spot it leaves behind. But that bald spot does not remain bald long. Other plants take over. Sometimes grass, sometime ferns, sometimes shrubs. And quite often a seedling that could not grow because the big tree would not let sunshine reach it. Empty spots do not remain empty for long."

"As they say, the cemeteries are full of indispensable men."

"Yes. I hope that they are wiser now, Some are, but others cling to the dream... and someone else will do the fleecing next time. And will not be as gentle as I was."

"And" Galt"?"

"As you know, "Galt" got this lady to listen to his ramblings, and she decided to write it so that he wins in the end. The collapse comes, and they come forth from Shangri-La to return wisdom to the world."

"Do you think that there might be a real Shagri La?"

"If there is, its time is not yet. And those who try to create one are bound to be disappointed"

"Yes, I can see the title of my story' "another failed Shangri-La"

Note: I apologize for being more didactic than usual. I try to avoid getting lectures in stories. As Miss Manners said, if you have the urge, print leaflets and hand them to strangers on the street.

But every now and then I have to do it.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.

I hope that it is entertaining enough for you to forgive me.


End file.
